


eidolon

by aanathemaa



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Death, I promise I love them to the moon and back, I'm Sorry, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 23:29:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16356362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aanathemaa/pseuds/aanathemaa
Summary: So he nods and has faith in Joyce's fairy lights and the holes in the walls.





	eidolon

The lights are blinding, there's people everywhere and Mike rushes through the trees to see what Hopper's found by the lake. He hears Lucas say "they found him" like it's a prayer and the whole town is holding their breath.

But it turns out that there isn't anything by the lake, but in it. For a moment, as he stares at Will's body being dragged to the shore, there's white noise in his ears and his vision gets blurry, eyes stinging like there's dust in them. 

"It can't be Will," Mike says, almost to himself, and breathes in like he's forgotten to, like there's not enough air. 

But it is Will, dressed just like when he last saw him, small and wet and pale, Mike thinks. There's a million things running through his mind but it all ends in a flat line when the medic confirms the obvious. 

Will had been missing for three days and by the looks of it, he had spent them in that lake. Mike sobs so hard, his insides hurt.

Eleven tries to apologize but there's no fixing this. 

\---

Mike stares at Will's drawings on the table as he hears Jonathan slam the door to his bedroom. 

"That's not my boy in the ground." Joyce states for the tenth time as she comes back to the kitchen, "He's somewhere, Mike," she sits next to Dustin, putting out her cigarette, "I know it, I can feel it." 

Lucas gives Mike a look but Mike feels numb, face blank. He doesn't understand much these days. He wants to trust the confidence in her voice. So he nods and has faith in Joyce's fairy lights and the holes in the walls.

\---

Two years after the case closes, unsolved, the nightmares seem to go away. Mike thinks it's easier to visit Will now; he rests on his headstone and talks about anything and everything, about Dustin's cool science projects and how Lucas met a nice girl named Max. 

He talks about Eleven too and wishes the two could have met. He's forgiven her.

He hopes Will hears him, wherever he is.

\--- 

Sometimes he visits Joyce too, but she's not very coherent anymore. The drugs don't help, that's not the kind of help she needs, Mike thinks. There's no healing in that.

In any way, Mike can't blame her. He just thanks whatever's out there for not ending up the same.


End file.
